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Biomedical subjects

L Hittinger

Publications and source records attributed to L Hittinger.

85 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Subendomyocardial exhaustion of blood flow reserve and increased fibrosis in conscious dogs with heart failure.

The effects of near-maximal coronary vasodilation were examined in conscious dogs with left ventricular (LV) failure after pressure overload hypertrophy induced by either aortic banding alone or aortic banding plus a peripheral arteriovenous shunt. The findings were compared with results in littermates with compensated LV hypertrophy and with a third group of normal dogs. At rest, there was a marked difference in the intramyocardial distribution of coronary flow, measured with radiolabeled microspheres. The endocardial/epicardial (endo/epi) flow ratio in the LV failure dogs was 0.96 +/- 0.08 as compared with control dogs (1.28 +/- 0.06, p less than 0.05) or dogs with compensated LV hypertrophy (1.23 +/- 0.08, p less than 0.05). During near-maximal coronary vasodilation with adenosine, all groups showed similar increases in subepimyocardial (epi) flow. While significant increases in subendomyocardial (endo) flow during adenosine infusion were seen in the control group (0.88 +/- 0.10 to 3.53 +/- 0.24 ml/min/g) and in dogs with compensated LV hypertrophy (1.12 +/- 0.14 to 3.60 +/- 0.16 ml/min/g), there was no change in endo flow in the LV failure dogs (1.55 +/- 0.20 to 1.71 +/- 0.47 ml/min/g) and a further significant reduction in the endo/epi flow ratio was observed (0.30 +/- 0.06, p less than 0.01). These hemodynamic changes were associated with chronic multifocal interstitial or discrete areas of fibrosis observed preferentially in endo layers. Thus, endo flow reserve is nearly exhausted in dogs with decompensated pressure overload LV hypertrophy, which may induced periodic episodes of endo ischemia resulting in myocyte necrosis and fibrosis, which in turn results in exacerbation of LV failure.

Adenosine↗
PubMed1988

Mechanical adaptation to chronic pressure overload.

According to Meerson, the adaptation to cardiac overload can be divided into three periods: the first stage, immediately after the initiation of the defect during which hypertrophy develops, followed by the stable hypertrophy phase (SHP), and a third phase of myocardial failure. Ventricular muscle contraction during SHP has been extensively studied both in vivo and in vitro with conflicting results. In isolated papillary muscles, most studies showed a normal or depressed contractility during chronic volume overload and a depressed inotropic state in pressure overload with a reduced maximal velocity of shortening which has been related to a myosin isozyme shift. In contrast, in conscious animals, haemodynamic status is usually described as preserved during SHP with a ventricular hyperfunction and a normal contractile function per unit of muscle. This was the basis of the concept of preload reserve and afterload mismatch described by Ross. However, mechanisms other than preload reserve may play a role during cardiac adaptation to pressure or volume overload. For instance, we recently showed in the early phase of pressure overload an increased inotropic state of the in situ heart with a change of the excitation contraction coupling evidenced by a modification of the force-frequency relations. Changes in the adrenergic receptors (density and/or affinity) may also contribute to the adaptation of the in situ heart to cardiac overload. They represent an important research area because they may explain, along with species and model differences, the discrepancies between in vivo and in vitro studies.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1988

Sympathetic augmentation of cardiac function in developing hypertension in conscious dogs.

To determine the alterations in left ventricular (LV) function and the mechanisms involved that occur during the development of perinephritic hypertension, dogs were instrumented with a miniature LV pressure transducer, aortic and left atrial catheters, and ultrasonic crystals to measure LV diameter in the short and long axes and wall thickness. At 2 wk after initiation of perinephritic hypertension, increases (P less than 0.05) were observed in LV systolic pressure, LV end-diastolic pressure, both short- and long-axis end-diastolic diameters, calculated LV end-diastolic volume, stroke volume, global average LV systolic wall stress, first derivative of LV pressure (LV dP/dt), and ejection fraction, whereas mean velocity of circumferential fiber shortening (Vcf) and rate of change of LV short-axis diameter (LV dD/dt) rose but not significantly. At three levels of matched preload and afterload induced by the administration of graded doses of phenylephrine, Vcf, LV dD/dt, and LV dP/dt increased in hypertension compared with the same levels of preload and afterload before hypertension. When the loading conditions in the normotensive and hypertensive dogs were matched, either after ganglionic blockade or beta-adrenergic blockade, both isovolumic and ejection-phase indexes of LV function remained similar before and after hypertension. Thus we conclude that 1) LV function in intact, conscious dogs with early hypertension is enhanced, and 2) the major mechanism for the increase in LV function involves the sympathetic nervous system.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Regional ventricular segmental dynamics in normal conscious dogs.

Left ventricular (LV) subendocardial segmental behavior was analyzed during the whole cardiac cycle for different loading and inotropic conditions in six conscious dogs that were instrumented with ultrasonic crystals in the basal (B) and apical (A) LV regions, a LV micromanometer, and an aortic cuff occluder. There were large variations of A and B segmental behavior during isovolumic contraction and relaxation. In contrast, a linear relationship between A and B was observed during ejection but segmental shortening was larger during control in A than in B, whether it was expressed as a percentage of systolic shortening (34.6 +/- 1.1 and 25.0 +/- 1.2%, respectively; P less than 0.005), or whether segments were normalized for passive resting length. This linear relationship during ejection with a slope of 1.49 was not significantly modified by alterations of loading conditions or inotropic state. The larger A than B shortening, independent of the normalization procedure, is attributed to the regional stress distribution in the LV. The absence of regional and cycle invariance particularly during isovolumic phases prevents the inference of ventricular volume from a limited number of dimensions.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Modification of force-interval relations during early adaptation to pressure overload in dogs.

Ventricular function was analyzed in the end-systolic and end-ejection pressure-volume diagrams in seven conscious dogs during acute aortic stenosis (AS) and sustained stenosis (SS) 24 h later. Dogs were previously instrumented with a left ventricular micromanometer and ultrasonic crystals measuring left ventricular major and minor axes and parietal wall thickness. The end-ejection pressure-calculated volume points were significantly shifted to the left during SS as compared with those obtained during AS both during a regular atrial pacing (150 beats/min) and during spontaneous heart rate. Postpacing beats were not different during AS and SS. During AS, end-systolic volume was larger after short intervals (SI) between beats (22.5 +/- 1.6 ml) than after long intervals (LI; 20.8 +/- 1.7 ml) for a smaller end-systolic pressure (P less than 0.001). This difference was minimal during SS. When SS was compared with AS, the end-systolic and end-ejection pressure-volume points were significantly shifted to the left after SI but not after LI. This suggests an acceleration of the restitution process during SS that modifies ventricular force-frequency relations and increases ventricular function as compared with AS, particularly for high heart rates.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1986

[Hemodynamic evaluation of the Carpentier-Edwards porcine bioprosthesis and the Hancock pericardial bioprosthesis in aortic position].

Forty-four asymptomatic patients were catheterised at Boucicaut Hospital 9.5 months after aortic valve replacement to assess the haemodynamic performances of 21 Hancock pericardial (HP) and 23 porcine Carpentier-Edwards (CE) (standard model) bioprostheses, implanted in the aortic position. Left heart catheterisation was performed from a femoral approach; the simultaneous gradient was measured by planimetry and the functional valve surface area calculated at rest and after exercise. The resting calculated surface area of the HP was greater than that of the CE bioprostheses (equation: see text). The transvalvular pressure gradient was lower in the HP than in the CE group (7.8 +/- 4 vs 15.3 cf243 6 mmHg; p less than 0.005). After exercise (15 patients) the calculated surface area increased with the increased transvalvular blood flow in both groups but at each flow rate the calculated valve surface area was greater in the HP group. The haemodynamic performance of the CE bioprosthesis is inferior to that of the HP bioprosthesis, especially in the smaller models. However, the CE bioprosthesis would seem to be mechanically more reliable in the long term than the HP bioprosthesis has since been withdrawn from the market.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Diameters and segment relations during the cardiac cycle in the canine left ventricle.

The relations between left ventricular antero-posterior, septum-free wall diameters and an anterior subendocardial segment were studied by sonomicrometry in seven open-chest anesthetized dogs, during the control state and during left ventricular and right ventricular pressure overload for low and high left ventricular filling pressures. A linear relationship between antero-posterior and septal-free wall shortening was observed during control and during left ventricular pressure overload when left ventricular filling pressure was high. For low end-diastolic ventricular pressure, there was the same relationship during ejection with an isovolumic lengthening of the septal-free wall diameter. This relationship was shifted downwards during pulmonary artery stenosis for both high and low left ventricular filling pressure, which produced a significant decrease in end-diastolic septum-free wall diameter without significant modifications of end-diastolic antero-posterior diameter. The anterior segment exhibited behavior similar to that of the calculated left ventricular circumference. Subendocardial anterior segment measurements in the open-chest dog model can be used as indices of left ventricular circumference.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Preserved vasodilator effect of bradykinin in dogs with heart failure.

BACKGROUND: In heart failure (HF), vasoconstrictor systems are activated and endothelium-derived vasodilation is blunted. Bradykinin, a potent vasodilator, may play an important role in this setting. However, it is not known whether its vasodilator effect is modified in HF. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fourteen chronically instrumented dogs were studied in the control state and in pacing-induced HF (250 bpm for 3 weeks). The dose-dependent decrease in mean aortic pressure (MAP) induced by acetylcholine was significantly blunted in HF. In contrast, in both control and HF, bradykinin infusion caused similar dose-dependent decreases in MAP and increases in cardiac output (CO). This vasodilator effect of exogenous bradykinin was potentiated similarly in both states by enalaprilat, which blocks both angiotensin conversion and bradykinin degradation. For evaluating the role of endogenous bradykinin, the effects of enalaprilat were compared with those of ciprokiren, a pure renin inhibitor. In control, ciprokiren did not produce any effect. Enalaprilat, however, produced a significant decrease in MAP and a significant increase in CO, which were attributed to the inhibition of bradykinin degradation, because these effects were absent after pretreatment with Hoe 140 (a bradykinin B2 receptor antagonist). In contrast, in HF, vasodilator effects of ciprokiren were observed, but enalaprilat produced larger changes in MAP and CO, and after Hoe 140, the hemodynamic effects of enalaprilat were significantly decreased, showing the effects of endogenous bradykinin, which were similar to those measured in control. CONCLUSIONS: In this model of HF with a blunted endothelium-derived vasodilation, the vasodilator effects of exogenous and endogenous bradykinin are preserved. These results suggest that bradykinin may play an important role in HF, in which vasoconstriction is present and endothelium-dependent vasodilation is blunted.

Acetylcholine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Enoximone and the therapeutic strategy in patients awaiting emergency cardiac graft].

Enoximone is a positive inotropic agent belonging to the group of phosphodiesterase F-III inhibitors. The drug was tested in 34 patients uncontrolled by sympathomimetic drugs and referred to our department for urgent heart transplantation or circulatory assistance. After insertion of a Swan-Ganzgatheter and a radial artery catheter for haemodynamic monitoring, enoximone was administered as a 15-minute intravenous bolus injection of 1 to 2.5 mg/kf every 8 hours, in addition to sympathomimetic agents. Clinical and haemodynamic improvement was observed after thirty minutes in 30 patients. The cardiac index rose from 1.82 to 2.67 l/min/m2 and the pulmonary wedge pressure fell from 30.8 to 18.9 mmHg. Systemic arterial resistance decreased from 2170 to 1520 dyn. s. cm-5, and pulmonary resistance from 5.5 to 4.6 Wood units (p less than 0.01 for all values). Four patients had no haemodynamic improvement and were put on circulatory assistance, using a Jarvik 7 total artificial heart in 3 of them and heterotopic circulatory assistance in one. After clinical investigation for contra-indication to heart transplantation, and as their improved haemodynamic status permitted, 12 of the 30 patients were considered suitable (group B) for heart transplantation. Transplantation was performed within a week of admission in 11 patients without any need for mechanical assistance. One of the group B patients who required implantation of a Jarvik 7 artificial heart died after 12 hours of assistance. Eighteen patients were considered unsuitable for transplantation (group A) and treated medically.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Nitrates and coronary vascular endothelium dysfunction].

Since the classical studies by Furchgott and Zawadski (Nature, 1980, 286, 373-376), the vascular endothelium is known to play a fundamental role in the regulation of haemostasis and vasomotor activity. This is primarily due to its strategic interface position between the circulating blood and smooth muscle cells of the media. Due to the presence of specific receptors to mediators released during platelet aggregation (thrombin, ATP, serotonin, PAF, etc.), and the presence of mechanoreceptors sensitive to shearing forces generated by blood flow along the vessel wall, the endothelium is able to release, at the two poles of the cell, vasodilator and antiaggregant substances called "endothelium derived relaxing factors" (EDRFs), the best known for which are nitric oxide (NO) ans prostacyclin (PGl2). In the absence of endothelium (angioplasty), or in the case of endothelium dysfunction related to cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, heart failure, atherosclerosis or diabetes, EDRF synthesis is absent or defective and its oxidative catabolism in increased (particularity by superoxide anion), resulting in varying degrees of disorders of haemostasis (thrombosis) and/or arterial and venous vasomotor activity. The only known effective treatment to palliate these dysfunctions is exogenous NO, supplied in the form of nitrate (nitroglycerin, isosorbide dinitrate, 5-mononitrate) or "NO donors" (Sin1, nitroprussate). The advantage of these substances is that their vasodilator effects (and, in some cases, their antiaggregant effects) are strictly endothelium-independent and they remain effective regardless of the causes and severity of endothelial dysfunction.

Coronary Vessels↗